


Night Walk

by nat_writes_stuff



Series: Night [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Skelebro Angst, night terror sans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-03
Updated: 2015-12-03
Packaged: 2018-05-04 16:46:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5341295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nat_writes_stuff/pseuds/nat_writes_stuff
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sans it used to having night terrors, but it doesn't mean he's in control when he has them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Night Walk

The first thing Sans realized when he woke up was that he was crouched in a very uncomfortable position. Upon standing up and stretching his body out of the curled-up ball he started in, the second thing he realized was that he was not where he was when he had fallen asleep. He was almost certain he had fallen asleep in his bed at home. He gradually opened his eyes to find he was standing in the middle of Snowdin with a light snow coming down from above him.

What time is it? Where’s Papyrus? How did I get here? Questions swirled in his head as he took in the familiar surroundings.

He forgot all of his questions when he caught sight of two pairs of footprints in the snow just in front of him. He walked closer to get a better look. There was a pair of small footprints, light steps through the snow that only a child could leave . These were fresh. The other was a larger pair of prints made by someone with boots, someone who had a longer, heavier step than the first. These were older, judging by the light layer of fresh snow covering them.

Sans began to panic. He still couldn’t remember how he got to his current situation. He started out walking in the direction of the footsteps, but he began to run as soon as he heard a voice up ahead. It was a single voice, but Sans could recognize it as Pap’s immediately. He needed to make sure his brother was okay. He couldn’t lose him again.

When Sans burst through the trees into the familiar clearing he was relieved. Papyrus held the kid in his arms. They were both laughing. He was alive and the kid wasn’t going to hurt him. Everything was okay. When the two of them heard him arrive, they both turned to look at him. Papyrus’ eyes mirrored the relief that Sans felt, but he immediately changed his expression to one of confidence and knowing.

“See brother! I knew the human wouldn’t do a violence! I knew I was right to believe in them!” he exclaimed, bringing in the kid for a hug.

Before he had finished speaking, however, Sans froze. His entire body turned to ice. Was that a glint of metal he saw hiding in the kid’s sleeve? He tried to say something but he couldn’t open his mouth. He tried to move, but he was glued to the spot. He was paralyzed, and despite his efforts he couldn’t do anything.

He watched it unfold in slow motion. The kid realized that Sans saw the knife and struggled out of Papyrus’ grasp. They immediately turned and with the knife in their hand started back towards the taller skeleton. Papyrus didn’t even have time to move before the blade cut right through him. His face flashed with a variety of emotions. Surprise, pain, sadness, and finally disappointment. At first Sans thought it was disappointment directed toward the kid for betraying him in this way. As his brother continued to disintegrate before his eyes, however, he realized Papyrus was disappointed in… him. They maintained eye contact until Papyrus had completely dissolved. Sans still hadn’t moved and he didn’t plan on doing so anymore.

He felt his world stop. He had seen the knife with enough time to stop it. He could have used his magic. He could have warned Pap. He could have done something, anything, but instead he couldn’t move. He let it happen and he watched. He might as well have been the one holding the knife and making the final blow. He had failed to save his only family, and Papyrus had been well aware of it in his final moments.

The familiar blue tint grew in his left eye. When he tried moving, he found that once again he could. He started forward. The kid was already facing him, knife at their side with a wide grin on their face. They were laughing. Sans lifted his arm. He wasn’t going to let the kid get any farther this time around.

“Long time no see, dirty brother killer. ”

-

Papyrus woke up when the front door opened. He never heard it close.

“Sans?” He assumed it was his brother going out for a walk. He did that sometimes. Usually he remembered to at least close the door behind him though.

He sat up. He would have to go close it. Last time they left the door open overnight, a little white dog made itself at home on their couch and they couldn’t get it to leave. Papyrus still had no idea where it ended up going. He just assumed Sans took care of it.

Papyrus walked downstairs and flicked on the light. As he walked over to the door, he realized Sans’ shoes were still there, along with his jacket. He rolled his eyes. Was his brother too lazy to put his shoes on now too? He would just have to bring the shoes and jacket to Sans. After all, the Great Papyrus didn’t want his brother to catch a cold!

He got his shoes and scarf on and set out to find his brother. Lucky for him, the snow hadn’t covered his brother’s tracks yet. He followed them, stopping every so often to look ahead to see if he could spot the small skeleton. The snow was falling quicker now, and Papyrus wanted to return home to his warm bed. Why did Sans have to choose such a cold night for a walk?

Soon Papyrus came upon a clearing. When he emerged from the trees, he was enveloped in a light blue glow. He scanned for the source of the glow, and his heart dropped when he found it. Towards the center of the clearing was a small figure hunched over, seemingly oblivious to the snow gathering on him. It was Sans. A gust of wind blew towards Papyrus and with it came the sound of Sans sobbing. He dropped Sans’ jacket and shoes and started running towards his smaller brother.

“S-Sans? Sans, what’s wrong?”

Papyrus approached his brother and knelt down beside him. Up close he saw tears streaming down his face and blue pouring out of his left eye. He had never seen Sans this way before. His brother was unbreakable, he always took on every situation with terrible puns that reminded Papyrus that he shouldn’t give up hope. What happened?

He tentatively reached out a hand to touch Sans’ shoulder, but immediately regretted it. With a small flick of his brother’s wrist, Papyrus was soaring through the air. He landed in a pile of snow on the edge of the clearing.

“Sans! Sans, it’s me Papyrus! What is going on?” His shouting was met with silence.Sans stood up and faced him, but he seemed to be looking not at Papyrus, but at something in front of him. Something that wasn’t there.

“I can’t let you hurt anyone else! You killed him! You killed Pap after he trusted you!” Sans seemed to be screaming at the empty space between him and his brother.

“Sans, what do you mean? I’m right here! I’m alive! Brother, everything is okay!” Again, he was met with silence. He saw the flick of his brother’s wrist and braced himself. Suddenly bones were flying left and right around him, and Papyrus darted back and forth trying to dodge them. He began moving towards his brother, but was knocked back when one of the bones clipped his shoulder. Ouch. He would address that later. Right now he had to help his brother. He had never seen him look so distressed.

“I can’t… I can’t watch you hurt the others. I can’t disappoint Pap… I can’t…” His voice trailed off. Papyrus stopped in his tracks. Disappoint him? Sans never disappointed him. He may call Sans lazy and yell at him when he slept on the job, but he was never disappointed. Did Sans consider himself a disappointment?

“Sans!” Papyrus started running towards his brother. He saw the small figure shrink back into a crouch and could hear more sobbing. The blue glow grew. At least it seemed like the snow was slowing. He reached Sans and once again knelt beside him. He put both hands on the small shoulders of his brother. It was only now that he realized how tired Sans looked. Papyrus also noted how cold his brother felt, and he realized that he needed to get him warmed up soon. His thoughts were scrambled. Part of him was relieved he wasn’t thrown backwards into the snow again. The other part was only concerned about his brother.

Looking directly into Sans’ face, he realized he was asleep. He was… dreaming? Realization crept over Papyrus. Sans was having a nightmare! This was nothing the Great Papyrus couldn’t handle! Filled with more confidence, he took in a shaky breath. It was only then that he realized he had let tears escape and that they were quietly rolling down his face.

“Sans, it’s okay. Please wake up. Please.”

-

Sans was crying. That much he was aware of. He was also cold and soaked to the bone. That too, he was aware of. But what happened. One moment ago he was fighting the kid. The next… Where did they go?

He heard someone talking. It was distant, like they were behind a closed door. Slowly the voice got louder. It was… Pap? But he was dead! He watched him… he watched him die. Or… did he?

Slowly Sans opened his eyes. He was face-to-face with his brother. The blue glow was still in his left eye. He saw tears silently rolling down Pap’s face but couldn’t understand why. He was worried. What happened? Why was there a cut on his brother’s shoulder?

He realized then that what he had seen was just another dream. But how had he gotten to… where were they? And, had he hurt Papyrus? Confusion and guilt began to grow in his thoughts. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt Pap.

For the moment, however, Sans decided that none of this mattered. His brother was alive. He had dreamt everything. He felt himself come back to reality and took in his surroundings through watery eyes.

“…be okay. I’m here. Please.” Pap was talking to him. What was he saying?

“P-Papyrus…” Sans couldn’t get anymore words out before he started crying harder. He fell onto his knees and felt himself be pulled into a hug from his brother. For now, everything was okay.

-

Papyrus couldn’t have been more relieved and more confused. He held his brother as tears continued to roll down both of their faces. They must have sat there in their embrace for a long time, because slowly Sans’ breathing returned to normal and shortly after, Papyrus was sure he had fallen asleep. Was this why Sans was always tired? He would have to talk to him about it in the morning. For now, he had to get his brother home. He was freezing. He picked up Sans and began walking out of the clearing. He grabbed the jacket and the shoes from where he had left them on the edge of the trees. They too were soaked.

Once they made it back to the house, Sans woke up and quietly trudged up to his room. Papyrus changed into dry clothes and grabbed the warmest blanket he could find before following his brother. When he opened the door to Sans’ room, it seemed his brother was already asleep again.

Papyrus decided it would be best if he kept his brother company tonight. He closed the door behind him and started toward the bed. In the darkness, he swore he saw Sans make room for him on the bare mattress. He smiled. Tomorrow he would have to talk to Sans about the events of the night but for now, he was glad to see he was alright. Papyrus climbed into bed with his brother and fell asleep quickly, despite the fact that his brother had been too lazy to change out of his soaked clothes, making everything damp and cold. Everything was okay at the moment.

-


End file.
